Federal Judge Rules NYPD Stop-and-Frisk Violates Rights

A federal judge ruled that the contentious NYPD tactic known as stop-and-frisk violates constitutional rights, appointing a monitor to oversee reforms and ordering the department to test body cameras for officers.

U.S. District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin wrote in the opinion released Monday that she was not ordering an end to the practice, but was seeking to provide remedies “to ensure that the practice is carried out in a manner that protects the rights and liberties of all New Yorkers, while still providing much-needed police protection.”

She said the practice violates the Fourth Amendment, the right to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure, and the 14th Amendment, which forbids the denial of life, liberty or property, without due process.

Mayor Bloomberg said the city would appeal, and accused the judge of ignoring “the real-world realities of crime.” He said the judge’s orders, if implemented, would make New York “a more dangerous place.”

“This is a very dangerous decision made by a judge that I think just does not understand how policing works,” he said…